People and Personalities

When in the old days we brought up memories of Israeli cities and towns in foreign countries, the importance of the things was purely historical. Today, if we come to reminisce, these memories are used as a eulogy for holy cities saturated with Jewish sweat and toil, bustling with Jewish life that were ended and perished from the world. Today, when we talk about ancient Jewish cities, there is a reason to raise a candle of remembrance for cities that were and are no longer. One of these ancient cities was Szwirsz.

Out of heartache, being one of the last of the Szwirsz rabbis, I must mention the forgotten things so that they will remain forever for generations to come. As mentioned, it was a centuries-old Jewish town. At the ancient Jewish cemetery there is still a tombstone from the year 5564. Loyal Jews told me that they saw the covers of ancient books that were “printed in Lviv, near Szwirsz”, which proves the important position this town had in the old days. The elders of Swierz told me that they heard this fact passed down from person to person, that when the Gaon Rabbi Arieh Leib (who will be told about below) appeared in this town, the stepson of the author of “Turei Zahav”, accompanied by his stepfather, who asked the local people to accept his son as a rabbi in Szwirsz, they treated this candidacy scornfully, since this rabbinate has already been served by famous Jewish elders, with whom, according to the opinion of the homeowners in Szwirsz, he cannot compete. The old synagogue in Szwirsz was a wooden building, since according to the law that prevailed at the time the synagogue was built, Jews were not allowed to build synagogues made of stone, etc. According to my late friend Reb Shalom Shuv Herman, he saw that the building of the old synagogue was more than six hundred years ago. They prayed in this synagogue until the construction of the new synagogue by Reb Shlomo z”l was completed. The three-story menorah remained in the old synagogue. According to what is said, at one time it was found in the fields of Szwirsz and the Jews and foreigners fought over its ownership. They understood that this menorah should belong to a holy place, but each side wanted the menorah to be in its ownership. Finally, they agreed to load the menorah on a cart drawn by oxen, not driven by people, and wherever the oxen would go and stop, to that place it would belong; and the oxen stopped near the synagogue. When the merchants had to go to Uhniv, for the famous fair, they would linger especially in Szwirsz to see the ancient menorah. The menorah was made of an unknown metal. Neither copper nor bronze. In my time, when there was a need to repair some parts of the menorah, and the special craftsman, from Sasov, was invited for this purpose, he told me that in order to match the additional material to the current one, it was necessary to create a compound from different materials, in order to somewhat equal the sound of the added metal to the prolonged sound of the menorah when it was tapped, which lasted for a long time. According to Reb Hirsch Gabbai z”l, before the previous war, came from Vienna an antiques merchant, who wanted to pay in gold for the menorah after taking off a small piece of the menorah and testing its properties. Of course, the local people refused to hear about any kind of consideration in return for their menorah.

Among the famous rabbis, who held highly respected positions in this town, those known to me, were: the Gaon, rabbi and teacher, Arieh Yehuda Lieb, the son of Rabbi Shmuel Zvi Hirsch, the Gaon, rabbi and teacher, Moshe Pinchas, the son of the Gaon Avraham Gabbai of Lublin, the great Gaon Mordechai, the son of the great Gaon Tuvia Michal Halperin, Av Beit Din of Ruzhin, the great Gaon Shlomo Zalman Horvitz, the great Gaon Simcha Yoel HaCohen, the great Gaon David Meir Feder, my father-in-law the great Gaon Chaim Halevi Eisen, his son-in-law the great Gaon Moshe, the son of the teacher and rabbi, the great Gaon Ya'akov Shalom Babed, his son, the great Gaon Uri Halevi, was mentioned above among the rabbis of Bobrka, the last rabbi who filled my place when I left Szwirsz to immigrate to Eretz Israel was the Gaon, rabbi and teacher, Mordechai Zvi Redlich, may God avenge him.

The Gaon, rabbi and teacher, Arieh Yehuda Lieb, the son of Rabbi Shmuel Zvi Hirsch, grandson of Rabbi Yoel (the author of “Bait Chadash”) and the stepson of Rabbi David Halevi, the author of “Turei Zahav” was born nearby in the year 5400. He first studied Torah with his stepfather, the author of “Turei Zahav”, and he also studied with Rabbi Heschel of Krakow. At a young age he was later appointed as a rabbi of the Szwirsz community and from there he had a question-and-answer relationship with his stepfather, the author of “Turei Zahav”. In the year 5426, the author of “Turei Zahav” sent him and his stepbrother, Rabbi Yeshayahu Halevi to examine the character of Shabtai Zvi; he received them with great respect and sent

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with them a silk garment in honor of their father, the great Gaon. For nearly sixty years, Rabbi Arieh Leib served in the rabbinate of important communities in Poland and Lithuania: in Szwirsz, in Komarno, in Stopnitz, in Zamosc, in Tuchin, in Krakow. Recently he was called to Brisk of Lithuania, and there he passed away in the year 5478. Some of his answers were printed by his grandson under the name “Sha'agat Ari”, with the additions of the publisher under the name “Kol Shachal” (in 5496, and a complete edition in Thessaloniki in 5506) and many more (The History of the Poskim).

The Gaon, rabbi and teacher, Moshe Pinchas, the son of the famous Gaon, rabbi and teacher, Avraham Gabbai, was head and leader of a yeshiva in Lublin. In the register of the community from the year 5467 mentioned Rabbi Avraham, Rabbi Chaim, Rabbi Zeev, Rabbi Avraham and Rabbi Lipman. He was the last community leader to the Committee of Four States because later the Kingdom of Poland was divided and the committee was annulled. The committee (Ya'akov community, HaMelitz page 82). In the year 5501, he gave his consent for the book “Porat Yosef” of the Gaon, the author of “Pri Megadim”, in the year 5506, he gave his consent for the book “Birkat Yosef” of the Gaon Rabbi Meir Teomim (the father of the author of Pri Megadim) and many more. In the year 5511, his signature appears among the rabbis of Zhovkva to assist the Gaon Yonatan Eybshitz (the book “Luchot Edut”) and in the year 5517, on the book “Mitznefet Bad” and signed by: Moshe Pinchas on behalf of Rabbi Avraham, Rabbi Chaim of Lublin, Av Beit Din of Szwirsz and a trustee of the Committee of Four States and a community leader of the Lviv district. He had two sons: a. The Gaon and tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Yosef, Av Beit Din of Pozan (a member of the authors of the book “She'erit Yosef” on the Shas) and was the son-in-law of the Gaon Rabbi Yehezkel Landoi, the author of the book “Hanoda Be'Yehuda”, Av Beit Din of Prague. And in his answers, he exalts and praises his son-in-law Rabbi Yosef as a Gaon and tzaddik and so on. b. The Gaon, rabbi and teacher, Shmuel, Av Beit Din of Iloguria, Pshevorsk, Ternopil; and after the death of his aforementioned brother, he was appointed as the Av Beit Din of Pozen. He is the author of Q&A of the last Beit Shmuel and in the introduction of the book, he mentions his father, “the famous rabbi ztz”l, HaMaor HaGadol, who was Av Beit Din of Szwirsz, the community leader of the Lviv district and the trustee of the Committee of Four States and was in his entirety Torah and greatness in one person”.

Figures from the homeowners in Szwirsz at that time that are worth noting: the Kadosh Reb Moshe of Szwirsz, who was killed for Kiddush Hashem, the father of the Kadosh Reb Yosef “Sparavadlivi”, the father of the Gaon and Kadosh Reb Yitzchak of Drohobych (to whom the Kadosh Ba'a Shem Tov came to receive a blessing). The Kadosh Rabbi Moshe mentioned above was the grandson of the Gaon and Kadosh Rabbi Yitzchak Hayut, Av Beit Din of Prague, among the Provenza Chassidim (preface to the book “Toldot Yitzchak” on “Masechet Brachot” of the Gaon and tzaddik of Skala). The Gaon, rabbi and teacher, Yosef of Szwirsz, the father of Meir Teomim, the author of “Birkat Yosef” (preface of the book “Natrikan” of the author of “Pri Meghadim”).

The great Gaon Mordechai, Av Beit Din of Szwirsz, the son of the great Gaon Tuvia Michal Halperin, Av Beit Din of Ruzhin, passed away in the year 5535 (the book Hayachash of Baal Beit Ya'akov). His son-in-law, Avraham Yehuda Lieb Meir Hopper, the owner of the well-known printing house “Meir Hopper” in Zolkevi, the learned man and dignitaries of the city of Zhovkva (in the introduction of the book “Chemda Gnuza” by the great Gaon Moshe Zvi Hirsch, Av Beit Din of Zhovkva and on the cover of the book “Zohar Chadash” that was printed in Zhovkva in the year 5564).

The great Gaon Shlomo Zalman Horowitz received an answer in the year 5605 in the book Questions and Answers from the Riaz Anzil, Av Beit Din of Steri, section 76. When he was already Av Beit Din of Galina, he wrote to him: “His land I will call him and he will not know him”, but from among his lines revealed the rays of wisdom and knowledge, therefore, first and foremost, I apologize I did not reply sooner to the two letters of his while his honor resides in the community of Szwirsz. And he also appears in the Questions and Answers “Shoel Umeshiv”.

The great Gaon Simcha Yoel HaCohen, Av Biet Din of Szwirsz is the author of the book “Mei Shiloach” along with a large Persuh called “Makor Niftach” (Lviv 5589), and also the book “Chalat Lechem” which is noted by the Gaon Rabbi Yosef Shaul in the book Questions and Answers “Shoel Umeshiv” (Tinyana edition), section 43, in the middle of the answer. He was a distinct scholar of the Gaon Mahari Melisa, the author of “Chavat Da'at” and “Netivot”. His son Meshulam, Gaon, rabbi and teacher, passed away in Lviv in 5570.

The great Gaon David Meir Feder, a great and famous Gaon in his books Questions & Answers Radam and Questions & Answers Imrei David (Lviv 1886). The great Gaon from Sanz, the author of “Divrei Chaim”, the great Gaon of Komarno as well as the great Gaon, the author of “Minchat Chinuch” from Ternopil and the great Gaon, the Maharshak from Brod praise and glorify his wisdom. The Gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Shmelkish, being at that time Av Beit Din of Premishlan wrote: “I hope I will be able to get to know our honored friend, our colleague, Gaon Yisrael, sharp and well versed in all the Torah places, the famous rabbi and teacher David Meir Feder, Av Beit Din of Szwirsz, etc.”. My late friend Rabbi Moshe Carten, may God avenge him (the last community leader in Szwirsz) who knew him well, told me about his wonderful innocence and yet his intelligence and decisiveness. When he moved to Premishlan in his old age and traveled from time to time to distribute his books, his wife the rebbetzin sat by him to watch over him because he was weak by nature. He was afraid that he would be suspected of sitting next to a foreign woman, so upon entering the city he stood in the cart and announced in a loud voice: Gentlemen, know that this is my wife … The Gaon and tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Yitzchak Velitchker, may God avenge him, the late son-in-law of the tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Asher Antshil Ashkenazi of Stanislav, told me in the name of Rabbi Asher Antshil that when the Radam was at his late father-in-laws from Elask, the Gaon and Kadosh, who was always happy and content, asked him Rabbi Asher Antshil: what does his honor say about the behavior of my teachers and father-in-law, the Gaon and Kadosh? He answered him: very nice, but why does he pray so late? Rabbi Antshil answered: It is difficult for him to prepare himself for prayer earlier. The Radam asked: and how does his honor, your father-in-law, prepare himself on the Shabbat on the eve of Passover? … Once, the Polish landowner of the city, who owned many fields in the city and its surroundings, wanted to establish a noodle factory in the city, and since the noodle eaters at that time were only Jews, he wanted to guarantee himself kashrut certification for the noodles first. The rabbi did not want to give him such kashrut certification. People advised the Polish landowner to bring the Gaon Rabbi Yosef Shaul Nathanson, the author of “Shoel Umeshiv”, the Rabbi of Lviv, to influence him. When the Gaon Rabbi Yosef asked him the reason for his refusal to give kashrut certification to the Polish landowner, HaRadam answered: “I have my reasons and explanations and I keep them for myself. I am the Rabbi of the place and that's all.” The Gaon from Lviv left the city to no avail. In the introduction to his book Questions & Answers “Imrei David”, he mentions that several times he was able to be in the vicinity of the tzaddik and Kadosh, rabbi and teacher, Uri HaSharaf z”l of Strelisk. He passed away in Premishlan, may his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.

My father-in-law, the Gaon and tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Chaim Halevi (the son of the Gaon and tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Avigdor Halevi, Av Beit Din of Warish. His mother was the daughter of the Gaon and tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Yitzchak Langner, Av Beit Din of Chortkiv). He was a famous tzaddik, a great Gaon and knowledgeable man. He left behind him a manuscript in the matter of Gittin “Shemot Anashim” (it was in the hands of my brother-in-law Rabbi Moshe Babed, Av Beit Din of Rozdovitz, but was lost in the Holocaust). He was the son-in-law of the cousin of the Rebbe, the Gaon and tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Yehuda Zvi z”l of Stratyn and had three sons: a. The eldest, the Gaon and tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Avraham Halevi Rav Av Beit Din of Pidayitz, with enormous knowledge and proficiency who knew all the Shas and its additions by heart. He left many essays in Halacha that were lost in the last destruction (only what he wrote on my sheet of “Shulchan Aruch” remained. There is an answer to him in the book “Imrei Yosher”, volume I, section 184,

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to the teacher and rabbi, Gaon and tzaddik, Maharam Arak z”l, Av Beit Din of Tarna, as well as in other books. I have also seen an answer that was written to him before the Holocaust in the book “Kol Mevaser”, volume II, section 27, which is now being printed from Gaon Rabbi Meshulam Rata z”l, Av Beit Din of Czernowitz. His son-in-law, the Gaon and tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Naftali Horowitz, as well as his family members and his son, who was among the excellent scholars of the Lublin Yeshiva, Berish Eisen, were cremated in the synagogue in Pidayetz on Yom Kippur 5703 together with thousands more of our brothers of Beit Israel, may God avenge them.

b. The Gaon and tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Uri Halevi, cited above among the Rabbis of Bobrka.

c. The Gaon and tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Moshe Pinchas Halevi. He had an enormous knowledge and was a tzaddik. When he was only twelve years old, he already knew by heart several tractates. He replaced his father-in-law, the Gaon and tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Israel Langer, the Rebbe of Rohatin ztz”l in Brod. He was famous, respected and admired by the whole community. He and his family members perished in Brod during the Holocaust; may God avenge them.

The above mentioned Gaon Rabbi Moshe Babed was the son of the rabbi and Yaakov Shalom Babed from Bosk. He served for several years as a teacher in Szwirsz and later was appointed as Av Beit Din of Rozdovitz. He was a pure tzaddik and served God with devotion. He was taken with his wife, the rebbetzin Esther and their only daughter Fruma to Khodorov and there they were buried alive with the rest of the Jews of Khodorov and the surrounding area. May God avenge them.

During the time of my late father-in-law, one of the residents of Szwirsz, the Gaon, rabbi and teacher, Shmuel Yisachar Shtark, was appointed as a dayan in Botshatash, the author of the book “Yikra Deuriyata”, a book about Choshen Mishpat, Mincha Shay on the opening of Orach Chaim, and also the book “Petach HaTeva”, an explanatory about the book “Tevat Gama” by Pri Megadim. And in the preface of the opening of “Petach HaTeva” (not to leave the paper blank) he signed "I, the Kadosh Shmuel Yisachar Shtark, the son of the rabbi and teacher Rabbi Yehiel Shtark of the holy community of Szwirsz, which is near the community of Lviv, from the family of the Kadosh and tzaddik Rabbi Yehoshua Reitzes, who was killed on Kiddush HaShem in Lviv, the brother of the tzaddik and Kadosh Rabbi Chaim, Av Beit Din of Lviv, who was also killed on Kiddush HaShem, and from the family of the tzaddik Rabbi Yechiel of Winik (who is buried at the old cemetery in Szwirsz), who was the father-in-law of the tzaddik HaMagid Rabbi Michal of Zlotchov and from the family of Rabbi Hanoch Anich ztl”l from Alaska, and my mother, the humble tzaddika, Mrs. Kraincha z”l, the granddaughter of the tzaddik and Kadosh Rabbi Meir of Premishlan, who is known as Rabbi Meir the old man, about whom the Baal Shem Tov said that generations before him had a revelation to God and were of distinguished lineage.”

The writer of these lines was appointed as Av Beit Din of Szwirsz in the year 5689 and served as the rabbi of the place until the time of his immigration to the Land of Israel, with God's mercy, in the year 5695.

A family member of the Gaon, who was the son of the rabbi and teacher Mordechai Zvi Redlich, the son of the Gaon and tzaddik, rabbi and teacher, Aharon Meir z”l, the Rebbe of Mykolaiv, the grandson of the devout Chassid “Noam Elimelech” from Lizensk, and the Kadosh, rabbi and teacher, Meir of Premishlan, was sharp and wonderfully knowledgeable. There is an answer to him in the book “Imrei David” (section 112) of the Gaon, rabbi and teacher, David Halevi Ish Horovitz, Av Beit Din of Stanislav. He was loved by everyone and served God with devotion. My friend Rabbi Yeshaya Pepper told me that during the time of the damn Nazis, the Ukrainians took him out of his house at the end of Yom Kippur, when he arranged a Minyan in his house (since it was forbidden to gather in the synagogue) and beat him almost to the point of death. On Hanukkah that year, he was transferred with several of his children to the Premishlan ghetto and Rabbi Yeshaya's brother-in-law hired a gentile with a cart that later transferred his wife, the rebbetzin, and his remaining children to Kozlov. He was the last rabbi of Szwirsz and its magnificent community. May God avenge them.

The Rebbe of Kozova Rabbi Moshe'li Langer, brother of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac, Rabbi of Stratyn, who lived for several years in Bobrka		Rabbi Uri Halevi Eisen ztz”l, Av Beit Din of Szwirsz and later rebbe in Bobrka

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We will not fulfill our duty properly if we do not honor the memory of our city. A humble, modest, somewhat weird scholar, whose influence was decisive on the circles of the educated in our city and his path marks the path of several educated people from that period, this is Shmuel Karten. Due to his strange opinions, he was not so accepted by the people of the old generation, but everyone who spoke with him and got to know him closely, could not help but treat him with respect and courtesy, and there were also many who loved him. We said “weird” and it's not surprising. Even those who knew him and appreciated him as a man of great spirit, each one of them always had to add some kind of “but”… “yes” “and indeed”; “but”… “yes”, indeed he is full of Torah and wisdom, but he is cynical to some extent; yes, he has a lot of knowledge and he understands complex matters - but he mainly vehemently denies conventionally accepted views; he indeed has a practical sense and perhaps he is the only one who understands the meaning of life - and yet he is a great “idler”. That's how everyone started talking about him, firstly with great praising and then finished the saying with a “but”. And indeed, Shmuel Karten was like that.

He was born in the home of ultra-Orthodox parents, who were not rich at all. As the eldest among the family's children, he had to carry the burden of livelihood already as a child. He received his first education - like the rest of the children in those days - in a cheder with young Melamed, later - with Melamedim of Chumash and Rashi, and perhaps also a little from the Nevi'im, then he studied Gemara and Tosafot with Melamedim for the adults until he reached the level of learning on his own at the Beit Midrash - which served as the university of Israeli boys in those days. At the age of 15-16, he acquired the first knowledge of the German language. This was done, of course, secretly, so that his parents, who were extremely pious, would not find out about it.

His help in the burden of livelihood was manifested in the fact that every morning he would go through several districts of the city with two jugs of milk and distribute milk to houses. This gave him the opportunity to get up early in the morning, get out of the house secretly, barefoot - so as not to wake the members of the house - to engage in a “non-kosher” matter for a few hours, even before he left for the duty of distributing the milk. The place of study was of course the Beit Midrash and the teacher was a friend, who was almost at his age, who knew how to keep a secret, just like him, and the study was the learning of the Ashkenazi language, the language of the educated among the Israelites in the Kingdom of Austria-Hungary in those days. The studying of the language and the reading of masterpieces written by Ashkenaz writers was not an easy task, but a sharp mind like his immediately overcame all the difficulties. His thirst for knowledge was insatiable. He would eagerly read “everything he could lay his hands on” and, of course, as an autodidact, he would read everything without any order, or according to a specific choice. Among the pages of the Gemara in the Beit Midrash, he would secretly keep a “non-kosher” book by a certain classicist, or by an unknown philosopher, and all this in secret, so that the shamash or the others who were present in the Beit Midrash will not discover it. By the power of his perseverance, he overcame all the difficulties.

At that time, Torah scholars of this kind in a small town couldn't find a suitable livelihood easily. And Shmuel Karten was not only unable to make a living, but he didn't think about a “purpose” at all. The main thing for him was to learn, read, philosophize, get every new book that just appeared. And in fact, he never went any further than that, he remained a distinct reader, a follower of masterpiece writers and philosophical works. Kant and Spinoza, Schopenhauer and Hegel were his books of thought and he knew their words by heart, just as he knew by heart all the classicists.

Only after his wedding (he fell in love with my aunt, my father's sister) did he see that he needed to take care of the purpose, of making a living. The family helped him learn the profession of typesetting. They bought him a small hand machine that he set up in his apartment at the edge of the city (on the “Zagora”) and he “made a living” by printing wedding invitations and New Year's greeting cards^[a].

But his lifestyle has not changed at all. His house served as a committee house for smart young people who aspired to knowledge. When we came to uncle Shmuel, we always found a bunch of Torah scholars engaged in heated philosophical debates: “exist or do not to exist” and the debate about writers and their works never ended. These young Torah scholars were also from houses in which science and education were completely forbidden. And indeed, the common saying in those days was: whoever is considered to be among the visitors in the house of Shmuel Karten is lost forever, and hopefully he will not be destroyed. But these young people did not leave him, they eagerly listened to the knowledgeable and wise words of this “idler”, whom they used to call “Kant”. I still remember some of the names of the young men who used to gather at his house: Fischer, Leiter, Levinson, Spiegel. This gave an impetus to some of them to further progress in education and to leave the small town. Several young Torah scholars from this circle played an important role in the Zionist movement in the town.

Despite the difficult economic situation at home, Shmuel Karten, the eternal perseverant, for whom Torah and knowledge were the main thing in life, remained in the town.

In the years 1918-1919, after World War I, when his daughters Frida and Dora grew up, and the situation at home became more difficult, and it seemed that in the “New World” there were better chances for young people, he emigrated to the United States with the whole family. Life there was no easier than in Bobrka. He lived in an old apartment in the attic and worked hard until the end of his life.

He passed away at the age of over eighty (a few years ago). He was an honest man, “weird” but an unusual and goodhearted person. May his memory be blessed.

Original footnote:

1. During the training period, when we were preparing to immigrate to Israel, each of the pioneers had to learn a profession. I learned the printing profession with Shmuel Karten and helped him print the greeting cards and wedding invitations. During this period, I learned to appreciate and cherish him. (the editor). Return to text

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My dear P.

It's been a very long time since I heard or seen you. When the mailman delivered your postcard I stood with my mouth open, is it true? A postcard from P.? Why did he send it? And why didn't I do it first? A flood of memories, of different periods of my life, flooded me; youth movements in the city, the pioneer farmhouse (Kalinka), the immigration to Israel, the first settlement…

What am I going to write about? The memories from Bobrka are gloomy; I was uprooted from my birthplace at the age of ten. In my memory, the uprooting is mixed with the death of my mother who left behind her 12 orphans. I did not know much about my older brothers and sisters. When I reached the age when I started to recognize things around me, they already left our parents' home, covered themselves with Talith and a Streimel [black velvet coat]. They were fathers to children and held a “place” in the synagogue's eastern wall. I was a weak child and my mother of blessed memory liked me the most because (as he members of the family and our neighbors said) I was the only one that she nursed. I was not nursed by a gentile woman like the rest of her children. During her last days, she made sure that I drank a glass of milk, every day, directly from the udders of our gentile neighbor's cow. And for goodness sake, in great secret, and G-d forbid, no one in the family should find out. I drank the last glass of milk in our neighbor's cow shed on the day of her death. This glass of milk is carved in my memory, even today, because on that day I became an orphan.

During the days of mourning people started to convince my father of blessed memory, to replace his Rabbinate chair in Kriptesh, my birthplace, with a Rabbinate chair in a larger city - in Bobrka. I remember the letters that arrived from Bobrka. I did not know their contents but I remember the names of the people who sent them even today; David Holnder, Yankele' Akholz and Ahron David Kaminker.

Days later, after we moved to Bobrka I discovered the duty of each one of them in the chapter that is called Rabbinate. The first was the community leader, the second was a friend of my father who became close to him after he heard his first sermon in the synagogue, and the third was just a Jew, a middleman who received the broker's fees from my father for the Rabbinate transaction.

Rabbi Binyamin Zev Galer of blessed memory, Bobrka's Rabbi

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and ended the trip in a wagon pulled by horses. My soul revolted and did not want to move from my home town. My heart did not want to follow, the heart of a small Jewish boy predicted, but it did not know what it was predicting. I fell into a new world. The accent in Bobrka was different from the one in my home town. The boys in Bobrka ridiculed me and laughed at the way I was talking. The melody of the prayers in the synagogue was different, people also dressed differently in Bobrka, and the style of living was different than the one I was exposed to in my short life. The prayers in Bobrka were dry, without vitality and melody. We were used to accompany our prayers with singing. When my father walked by the reader's desk he started to sing, the way we were used to, and we his sons followed him, singing the verses with him. Many, from the nearby synagogues, came to hear the singing and the praying, some were curios and some out of admiration. And there were those who expressed their disgust to the new way that they were not used to. At times, I was caught by one of the older religious school students who forced me to sing some of the prayers. No matter how hard I begged and cried, I was forced to singe the Sabbath and holiday hymns in a style that was still foreign to them.

If my life in Bobrka was different, the Heder that I was registered to study the Torah in was not different from the one in my birthplace. The same “Rabbi”, the same “Heder”, the same way of teaching, the same discrimination between the poor student and the rich one , and all the more so - the Rabbi's son.

One of the Rabbis, that I remember with respect and admiration, was Rabbi Yechazkeli the Heder teacher who gave his lessens in the Hassidic synagogue, the one that was called Shulle' which was located next to the big and cold synagogue. Rabbi Yechazkeli had a light brown hair and was a great scholar. His level of studies was high and he taught without screaming, threatening and without punishing us the way other teachers did. It was my Bar-Mitzvah year and my last year of study. If there was something left in my memory from the words of the ancients, I absorbed it during that year.

I was the youngest student in Yechazkeli class. The age of most of the students was 16-17, and one of them had a gold watch and a chain, a gift from his future father in-law. I was their pet child; during break, they embarrassed me with questions that caused my face to turn red from embarrassment. There was a good relationship between Rabbi Yechazkeli and his student, who never bothered him the way other Heder students bothered their Rabbis. And no wonder! Whoever saw Rabbi Yechazkeli praying was able to see his holiness and his greatness. I have never seen him praying in public, his prayer was done in private. When he prepared himself, every eye was able to see that he was departing from the secular world, climbing higher and higher to the world above, and separating himself from the secular world below. Rabbi Yechazkeli was a sick man and he was sad all of his days. During prayer his face beamed, I have never seen a face beaming the way his face was. He dedicated his soul to his prayers the way a young man dedicate himself to his bride. He used to whisper his prayers, whispering and holding to the same word, like he was not able leave his beloved. His belief was naïve, beautiful and complete. His innocent belief attracted me, the innocent 13 years old. It was the only short period of time in my life that I satisfied my belief in prayers, and thanked the master of the world for all the good has given me; I stretched my arm towards him and called him at time of need. And I was answered.

Here is a tale about a young blonde man, who arrived in Bobrka and moved to a house next to my father's house. No one knew where he came from, no one knew the reason he came. He was a wood carver by trade, and his carving attracted my heart. I used to spend any free time I had from Rabbi Yechazkeli's classes in his wookshop. I enjoyed his craft and his company. He was simple, “ignorant”, and knew very little about Judaism. Since he lived in our neighborhood, he started to come after dark on Sabbath for the “third meal”, when two or three Jewish Minyans gather at the home my father, my teacher of blessed memory. Not many days passed and the young carver clings to our home and to Judaism and there was no one more religious than him in Bobrka. He loved me and my soul clanged to his.

And one day, I was informed in the middle of a class, that the carver, my best friend, was arrested. With one sweep I solved the mystery why he came to Bobrka under a false name; he escaped the draft of His Majesty the Emperor Franz Josef, and now he was taken shackled with chains to the recruiting office.

I left my class, entered the great synagogue, wrapped my brand new Tefillin the “hand phylactery” and the “head Phylactery”, and prayed alone in the synagogue for many hours. I did not let go of the edge of the Porocheth [curtain of the Ark of the Law] until I received the news that the carver was released. He was declared unfit by the doctors.

It only happened thanks to my pure prayer, because the young man was healthy and fit. I did not tell my best friend the reason why he was let go, he himself did not understand the reason for the miracle. Since then, he increased his faith and was dedicated to it. The next day he started to grow a beard and side locks, and changed his short cloths to black long clothes. The gossipers said that he was trying to win my sister, the Rabbi's daughter, and that was the reason why he changed his ways, and the reason to his strange behavior. I, who knew him the best, saw the matters in a different light, because this was the period of my great innocent belief that was sparked from the belief of Rabbi Yechazkeli, my Rabbi.

But this period did not last long. The First World War broke with a big blast and drums. Austrian soldiers marched in our streets, troop after troop. Day and night they moved towards Russia. And we the young men shouted from joy and curiosity. We were sure, that our soldiers will beat the “Poni” soldiers and smite them hip to thigh. But the fate was different. One morning a panic broke: the Cossacks were approaching the city and they were robbing killing men, women, old and young. All the people in the city escaped. Each person carried a bundle containing all of his possessions on his back. It was a horrible sight, and as a boy with a pure belief, a patriot of the king, the

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merciful Franz Joseph the First, I was bitterly disappointed. How? - I cried upwards with a bitter heart - did you desert our army, the people of our city, Rabbi Yechazkeli, and my carver.

My heart cried for the people of our city, who in one day, became creatures without little human semblance, a herd without a shepherd, lost people whose appearance changed in one day. And I looked at their bundles, and what inside them, and I realized that the one item that they all had, was the Sabbath candle sticks, G-d master of the World, where did all those Sabbath candles disappear to?

On the same Sunday eve, in one of the dark forests, at the beginning of our wandering, the first doubts started to poke my heart. During the next three and a half years, until the end of the war, my innocent belief completely broke. I returned to Bobrka at the age of 18, an atheist, and also this time, I did not stay long in the city.

I saw the city in its destruction and its young people searching for new lives. I joined “Hashomer Hatzair” [Zionist youth] movement of those days, that Arye Allweil established and led. We went to a pioneer training center, and in 1920 we arrived in Israel.

Here it is my friend. I sat down to give you a negative answer. It was clear to me that I had too many pretexts and reasons why I could not write about our town, and here, a long hour later, I found myself still writing.

Now that I am done, I deposit my words in your hands. If you want - it can be a private letter between you and me, and if you want you can print all of it or any part that you like, but only in the memory of Rabbi Yechazkeli the Heder teacher, and my wood carver, of blessed memory.

The “Tzeirie Mizrachi” organization in Bobrka

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The older boys studied with Rabbi Feivel the Heder [religious elementary school] teacher. How old were they? Over the age of ten. First they studied with other teachers, and when they reached the right level, they were transferred to study with Rabbi Feivel the Heder teacher. Rabbi Feivel was a special teacher and his students were afraid of him. His power was not only with his words, he also did not spare his students from his stick. His students were required to be in his classroom, in the summer and in the winter, at five thirty in the morning. He used to say ;“In the morning the air is fresh and clear and the brain is also fresh and clear, and great is its understanding”. The boys who went after the Heder to the gentile's school, sat there from eight in the morning to one in the afternoon. From there, they had to run to the Heder so the gentile school's impurities will come out of their heads. Then they spent from an hour to an hour and a half in the Heder, and only later on, they went home to eat lunch.

Each student at, Rabbi Feivel the Heder teacher, class was required to know how to “walk over” a Parashah, meaning, to know how to read the Torah properly since Reb Feivel was an excellent Torah reader and read the Torah in the small synagogue all his life.

He also used to say; whoever study with me will not be counted among the “ignorant”. Rabbi Feivel the Heder teacher had a special system. He divided his students according to their talents. There were those who knew the lesson right after the first reading, and those who knew the lesson after the second or third reading. Those were the first to receive the beatings, because, if they wanted they would have known, and if they don't know it is a sign that they don't want to. And the one who does not want, his punishment is hard, harder from the one who was not able to, and therefore, they deserve a beating. And indeed, he used to approach his students and say: “Come here boys, let's argue, who is right me or you?

There were students in his “Heder” who were unable to understand. To them he used to say: “it is a blessing for nothing. You take the place of someone who is better than you. Your father is paying for nothing. He did not raise his hand on them, and the good and talented students were envy. The Rabbi was not hitting them because they didn't know that he was not charging tuition from their parents, only payment from watching over them so they won't run in the streets. And more; when he had to moralize a student he used to say: “what will I say in the next world when they ask me why I took your father's money? money that he worked so hard to earn. Your father deprived his soul in order to pay tuition for his “jewel” so he will learn something, and you engage your brain with other matters, with everything, but not the words of the Torah, if you studied you would have known, therefore, your father is paying me for nothing, and shame on me, I am a partner to a crime. You tell me yourself, why I deserve it?” And when Rabbi Feivel the Heder teacher used to say that, you were able to tell that his words came from his heart and therefore they entered your heart. The students of the Heder sat and listened since they felt guilty and thought that they caused their Rabbi to commit a crime. Those were words of admonition that greatly influenced

“Tarbot” Jewish school in Bobrka

the students. There were many students who changed their minds, became more serious and started to study and understand the Rashi's Humash and also the Gemara.

When we arrived to the Parashat Mishpatim, the Rabbi's eyes shined because, he was able recognize his students' ability to understand and their power to explain, since we had to follow Rashi's long explanations of Torah's verses. Suddenly we realized that the Rabbi forgot himself. The clock showed that it was already half past eight at night. We were tired from a long day at school, and we were also hungry. Then the Rabbi told us; “When you study you have the right to eat, but when you don't study do you have right to ask for food”?

This kind of a man was Rabbi Feivel the Heder teacher. He was righteous, and dedicated his soul to his students and his teaching. He also did not forget the parents. He died before his time. May his memory be blessed.

Feivel's nephew Ori Kartn and his family A Jewish religious teacher in a government school		A house in Bobrka

“Poali Zion” seals in Bobrka

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At the beginning of this century, before the First World War, the organization “Poalei Zion” [Labor Zionism] was established. The founders were:

1. Yakov Buchbinder (who worked in a book binding shop belonging to Leib Aaster), chairman
2. Moshe Gimple, secretary
3. A Zokerkandel, treasurer

When the First World War broke, the members were drafted and the organization terminated its activities. During the same period (the first ten years of the Twentieth Century) they staged, for the first time, the play “The selling of Yoseph”. The director was Azriel Holtzman (the carpenter). Where did Reb Azriel bring this play from, and where did he learn to wisdom of directing a play - we did not know.

In the year1923, the organization “Yad Harotzim” [Hand of the Diligent Men] was established. The founders were:

1. Yoseph (Yasil) Gross, chairman
2. Levi Yitchak Baomgarten, secretary
3. Arye Zokerkandel (currently lives in Israel), treasurer

The director of the organization was R. Robinstein.

The union “Yad Harotzim” established the charitable fund “Gemilut Hasadim” [the giving of loving-kindness] and later on established the Ludovy Bank. The director of “Gemilut Hasadim” was R. Robinstein. Both financial organizations served an impotent role in the city's economy.

The committee members of “Gemilut Hasadim” were: Yoseph Gross, Levi-Yitchak Baomgarten, Arye Zokerkandel. Akiva Vasser (a tinsmith) and others.

Among the bank directors were: Yoseph Gross, A. Zokerkandel., Bnya Lerr, Yona Shreyer and others.

In 1933, the unions; “Poaeli Zion” and “Haoved” [workers' union] were established.
The founders:

1. Pesach Lev (at one time he was the mayor of the city of Lod Israel)
2. Meir Kalish
3. A. Zokerkandel
4. A. Shapira

The organization “Poaeli Zion”

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[Page 45]

Graduates of “Hashomer Hatzair” in the court of Arieh Eluil (his parents are in the picture as well)

Dear P.,

You asked a lot, you want that I will add an article to the previous one I sent. I am still thrilled by your words of praise for my first article, therefore, why should I risk writing again? Lest, God forbid, the second article will not be as successful as the first one. However, I can't refuse to the request of a person who deals with the public needs with great devotion, and especially not to your request. You, who continuously make efforts to always place a memorial candle to a holy community that was full of life, joy and sorrow, that no longer exists.

My next lines are dedicated to one of our town's residents, who nowadays lives in Israel, to whom we wish to live many more good years, this is our friend and teacher, the painter Arieh Eluil.

There are cases when a person will be moved and thrilled by the wonder of the universe, and humbly admit that it is the most wonderful thing in the world. There are cases in which an entire community will be amazed and thrilled of the man who grew up in it and prospered so much, it will not understand his meaning, as well as the source of his strength.

It was as if he appeared out of the thick cloud. A strong man with a round face, a forelock, green and alert eyes, that look directly through his glasses, wearing a jacket buttoned up to the neck, speaking in the holy language and with an accent that we did not know, that is the Sephardic accent. He gathered boys and girls around him and they followed him and huddle in his shadow as if he was a prophet and a leader.

And the days were days of chaos, the days after the First World War. The city was completely destroyed. Not only the town houses were destroyed but also the heart of its people, their spirit, their tradition and their customs; sadness prevailed everywhere and in everything.

Boys and girls, who during the war years were scattered to all corners of the world, and at the end of it returned to the ruined town, walked in the town with their souls full of sadness by the sight of the great destruction and desolation around them. Those who were scholars of the Beit Midrash at that time, could not return to it, as it was also ruined. The sons of the merchants did not know how to renew their business; those days were days of a vision of redemption of humanity on the one hand and days of pogroms on the other... and the youth was confused.

And this young man didn't live in the town and was not among the scholars of the Beit Midrash. He was a son of a blacksmith who moved during the war years to Vienna, the capital, and came back from there far superior than any other person in town. He was a rising star and a ray of light in the lives of the young people in our town. We listened eagerly to his words. He was our teacher, guide, educator and the one setting the rules. We, the Beit Midrash scholars, learned from him to speak Hebrew and that we can gather together, boys and girls, without a barrier between us. From him we learned how to create a healthy social life and pure relationships between boys and girls. We learned how to handle a practical and cultural conversation. We learned to think about the future and the purpose of our lives.

Giving a personal example served as his guiding principle and it brought him abundance of wonderful educational achievements. We have never heard him saying a single word in a foreign language. Hebrew was the only language he spoke and we desperately followed him. We worked hard in various of manual works headed by him and the entire income was transferred to internal funds. The abolition of tobacco smoking was a law, no one violated it with his advice and under his guidance we went to the villages to train ourselves to work the land. And so, he guided us faithfully to the threshold of the goal. In the midst of our preparations for the journey to our desired district, our leader, educator and guide disappeared from our sight. He immigrated to the Land of Israel two months ahead of us. As if he hinted us without saying: from now on you are worthy and prepared to walk independently and you no longer need a guide - and so, we immigrated to the Land of Israel.

When Arieh Eluil arrived to the Land of Israel, he went to Bethania Ilit, which served in those days as a place of residence for the elected members of Hashomer Hatzair and its philosophers.

Later on, we heard that he dedicated himself to the world of colors, the world of painting, in which he is engaged to this day.

Arieh was privileged to experience something that not many were privileged to. Most of his students nowadays live in the Land of Israel, they raised a generation of sons and grandsons and glorified in their actions their leader's theory, may God bless him.

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